You're listening to the Believe in Giants podcast with two-time Super Bowl winner Carl Banks and the voice of the Giants, Bob Papa.
And we welcome you to another edition of Believe in Giants. Bob Papa, two-time Super Bowl champion Carl Banks. The Giants have won their first three games at home for the first time since 2008. A thriller against the Arizona Cardinals. And Carl, this game was a game in which they fought, they battled, and on a day in which they honored the '86 championship team for a weekend, it was only fitting that the Giants got a goal line stand to close the game out. That was the most amazing display of character and Giants pride that I have seen in a long time.
Bob, goal line stands, that's all about pride. And the fact that they got down there was one thing, but the fact that the Giants defense said, 'No, you're not getting in in any capacity,' was just incredible. And it, you know, as you talk about the anniversary of our 40th anniversary of our first Super Bowl, that was kind of the mentality. Like if you remember before the half, we had those three straight stops on the goal line. And that's what this was. They had four, and every guy trusted his technique. Every guy did his job. And it was a beautiful thing. It was in the spirit of 1986. I was so proud watching this group at the end of the game, but there are points throughout the game where somebody had to step up and make a play. Somebody had to do a better job at something. They did it.
You know, one of the things, Carl, which goes to show you that this is a well-coached football team is, you know, there's 27 seconds to go in the game. There's third and six at the Giant 22, and they call the pass interference on Deontay Banks, and everybody is very deflated, and the ball's going to the four-yard line. Now, in recent Giants vintage, and even when you watch games around the National Football League, when you have a deflating call like that go against you, especially one that was ticky-tack at best, there is a natural instinct for guys to let down. The energy comes out of the building, but the Giants maintain their focus. They maintain their concentration. It's what Harbaugh always talks about. Well, it's just on to the next play. Be great on the next play.
And after an incompletion on first down, I mean, Drew Phillips read his keys perfectly based on the formation that they were in, did not allow himself to get out-physicalled, and gets the pass breakup on the play to Wilson, obviously before the next play where Banks got the interception. But to me, that showed a difference in this Giants team, that they didn't let the bogus pass interference call affect them in any way, shape, or form, and they just kept, they played the next play to the best of their ability. And then you get the Tay Banks pick six.
Well, that was the thing that was most impressive, Bob, is okay, they're down there. You get a penalty, they get four more tries at it. And each and every player, and I can't emphasize this enough, after a bad call, there was no hero ball. There was zero hero ball. What was the ball on, the two-yard line? On the four-yard line. There wasn't, 'I'm gonna make this play,' hero ball. It's, 'I'm gonna do my job.' Drew Phillips played the proper technique, beat the rub route. Then Deontay Banks lines up in inside technique, committed to inside technique, wouldn't let the receiver come inside. Timed route goes to Tay Banks, and he takes it and makes a Banks deposit.
Well, and Carl, on the previous play, Banks got a pass defended on the ball to Trey McBride. You know, they're going to Trey McBride. Yeah. And Banks played that perfectly as well.
Yeah, and that's a testament to the coaching that they have. It's a testament to the commitment these players have to their coaching and to each other. The technique. I mean, that's the part that was most impressive to me is that the fundamentals, when the game was on the line, Bob, that's when your fundamentals fail you. That's when you try to do too much, right? And I often talk about mental endurance and mental stamina in times that you need it, right? They play with clear heads. Game is at its peak. This is the highest anxiety you're going to get. You're down on the four-yard line. You're preserving a lead. Who's to say that Arizona wasn't going to score? Like it was, okay, let's line up. Let's play our technique. What's the call? They got the call. They lined up. And in the height of anxiety in any competition is game-on-the-line stuff. Game-on-the-line stuff is, you can't, the anxiety can't get higher. And these men played their fundamental football. And that's when you saw the possible happen.
And you could, you're the one that speaks to it because you actually walked in those shoes, and we know about the Super Bowl goal line stand. But your team between 1984 and 1990, from when you got to the Giants until you won your second Super Bowl, your team, your defense was known for goal line stands. Gary Reasons' hit in Denver in 1989. Like, there's a million examples of it. And it had to be, when you talk about that anxiety but that laser focus. I mean, you're one of the few people that could speak to it because you actually did it. And they, you know, you always hear poise under pressure. They showed a lot of poise under pressure yesterday.
Well, it's hard to be poised under pressure when that word pressure is real. It's, you know, you talk about it all the time, but to walk into it and you know exactly what you're supposed to do. You know exactly how you're supposed to perform. And this takes us back, though, Bob, and I'm sure it predates training camp to their OTAs, but training camp, how many times did we see at the end of every practice, gotta-have-it situations? They practiced it, practiced it, practiced it. Well, here it is. Gotta have it. And listen, the offense did as much as they could, right? Their four-minute offense came up about 45 seconds to a minute short. But the defense had a bend-but-don't-break, but then when it was time, man, it was a beautiful thing.
Yeah, we, you know, we've talked so much about Harbaugh and situational football and those got-to-have-it moments at the end of games and the practice periods and the stuff that they did at Greenbrier and here at the facility and everything else. But because we live in a world of offensive-centric, you know, we always talk about, oh, Jackson Dart hit Patrick Ricard, likely. Yeah, and they got to have it. He made a good throw, and that, but you know, they were also practicing the got-to-have-it moments on defense. We forget about that sometimes because we look through everything in today's world through the prism of the offense. Carl, why did the Giants, what did the Giants do, if anything, in your opinion? They were getting run through like, you know, Sherman through Georgia in the early part of the game. Love was averaging eight yards a carry. Alier had the 22-yard touchdown run. They actually took Nubin out of the game. They put Pinnock in until he left with a concussion. But what did the Giants do to choke that off? Because clearly the Giants controlled the running game much better in the second half, which enabled them to control the game, you know, and wind up getting a win here.
Well, they decided to stop getting punched in the face, Bob. So first drive, you know, well, kick-start the game off, they get the big kickoff return, but their run defense on the first drive was awful. Second drive was worse. They threw one pass, Arizona did, in that second drive of the game. So I think when they got off the field, and this run defense, this play keeps coming up, and they have to figure it out. I could probably help them. But this two-wide, two-tight ends, wide, and you've got a linebacker who's looking at the tight end who's in line and not the guy that's off the ball, and they just get pinned and pulled. They get cracked or pinned inside, and they were starting to feast on that. They figured it out. Once they contained the run and they said, 'Okay, Jacoby, you're going to have to step up and pass the ball on us,' that's when they started to make their plays down the field.
So they started to play it better, which I thought, Reer, Shelby Harris played very good ball games for the Giants. And then they were able to unleash their beasts. I mean, between Edmonds and Armon Reese on the inside, those guys are disruptive. They were all over the place. And I think for the second week in a row, Abdul Carter starting to assert himself a little bit more. I mean, yesterday was his best game of the season. He was very disruptive. You know, again, you look at the stat sheet, a couple quarterback hits, you know, he only got credited for three tackles, but he was heavily involved in what was going on defensively. And if those three guys are going to play with that kind of impact, if the guys up front just do their job, you know, you're going to see more of this team being able to shine on the defensive side of the ball, in my opinion.
Yeah. So Abdul Carter, I think he finished the game with like nine pressures, and he was really disruptive. And he's got, you know, if you're a person who stares at stats, you'll walk away thinking his impact was zero on the game. But if you were someone who watched the game, you saw he made a lot of plays possible for a lot of other players. Now I will say this to contrast those players that you just spoke of. We need to see more from Kayvon Thibodeaux. I didn't look at the coach's tape yet, but just from my naked-eye evaluation, they've got to get more from him. I think he's capable of giving more. I don't know exactly where he's at mentally, but I know physically there's more he can give, just looking at some of his pass rush stuff. So it just did not look as explosive as it should be, given the way that his teammates are playing, those other linebackers are playing. He's got to match that level of intensity and of effort. I think he's capable of it. And here's the thing about this Giants team in particular. This is not a Kon situation. This goes for Jameis Winston, too. This is happening in the first month of the season. The Giants are rounding up in terms of the things that you're going to see better. Like, listen to Jameis after the game. He said he's starting to feel it now. It's starting to come, and we saw that on the big play to Malik Nabers. I think it's the thing that uncorked it. And then he just started to be, you know, you could see the live arm again in Jameis Winston. And so this team, you know, they're struggling, and they're doing all the things that it takes to win, and it's not pretty, but these are the things that are going to serve them well. As opposed to there are teams right now, the first month of the season, that are working the kinks out, but they're going to round down. They're going to settle into who they are. The Giants, I think, are rounding up. You know, Malik Nabers had his best game since his injury. Malachi Fields made big contributions. This defensive backfield, each game they've gotten better and better, and they're getting turnovers. So this team is rounding up. They're not rounding down and then just plateauing. So this first month of the season, where you're working out the kinks, the Giants have worked through those with victories. Now it's time for more things to come together. Consistency on offense has to come together. Players on defense, like Shelby Harris is now starting to assert himself, right? We need to see Kayvon Thibodeaux match the effort of his linebacker mates. It should be a competition.
Well, Carl, it's, you know, I watch some of his snaps, right? And, you know, a lot of single-team, just not winning, right? Like, not winning consistently or getting a stalemate as opposed to whipping some guy's butt. Mm-hmm. And I will, the one thing I'll say about this, and I'm not saying that he can't step it up and be more productive, but one thing we've learned about Harbaugh, he lives in this world of meritocracy, and he does not waver from that principle. And you saw Trace Ford get a hit on the quarterback. He was elevated from the practice squad. My guess is Jihad Ward, who they just signed off the Vikings practice squad, he's on the active roster. Hottie is a disruptive guy, and he brings a lot of energy. And if Thibodeaux doesn't make more of an impact, he's going to see snap counts go down because Harbaugh doesn't care, as he's told us many times, he doesn't care where you got drafted. He doesn't care what your contract says. He doesn't care anything about it other than, show me on tape. Show me on the field. And if not, someone else is going in there.
Yeah. And I mean, listen, maybe playing the under defensive end is just not his strong suit. He needs to be, you know, on the over side where he can, you know, really get going. But listen, it's not an excuse for him. He has to play better. He has to have more impact. I think he's capable. Again, I haven't watched all the coach's tape. I don't know where he is mentally, but looking at him yesterday, just said he's got to match the energy. He's got to match the effort of his other linebacker mates, his other three linebacker mates. They should be in competition and make plays with each other. And, you know, his impact has not been noticed by, you know, me. Obviously, there are other people who just don't like him and think he's a, you know, whatever. But he's going to prove those guys right if he doesn't really get, you know, better effort. I don't know if effort's the right word. He's got to have better impact.
Yeah, impact. I won't quite... His effort is never going to be questioned, right? But he's got to have a better impact on the game, and he has to be able to take care of his opportunity. So yes, Jihad Ward, he's an impactful player. He makes, you know, disruptive stuff. So we'll see what this week holds. But if he doesn't have more of an impact in one-on-one situations, I'm sure he's going to rotate out, and somebody else is going to rotate in in situations. But I'm, as a whole, so proud of the effort that I saw yesterday from this football team. Just kept battling, kept it close, figuring out ways to keep one-score games. If it gets to two scores, you get in a position to get a third. Now, I thought the Giants played better offensively when they ran the football, when they incorporated the run. They started the game off with three straight passes. And I was like, these looks are going to be cloudy for Jameis. Give him some runs. Put a little play action in there. Clean up his reads. And I think once they started to run the ball a little bit, you saw a better Jameis. You saw a more rhythmic Jameis Winston. He looked more comfortable. And then you started to see him rip the football pretty good on some really good plays. And then some of the decisions he made, right, the Malachi Fields touchdown was probably a pass breakup last week because he would be so apprehensive. But, you know, he sees Malachi running across, Malachi clears the defender, and then that's when Jameis throws the ball on time. Last week, as soon as he's probably near that defender, he's throwing the ball. And so you start to see him feeling better even out of the pocket, out of the scrambling. He's letting him go down the field. And I just think that's what we're starting to see from the Jameis Winston experience, as they call it.
More on that in a second. But Carl, I know you're super busy, especially with Starter and all this '86 stuff, and, you know, the business that you're running, and we're all trying to save some time. We're hopping around from here to there, and that's why it's a really smart thing. If you're a business owner and you need to hire somebody, you got to check out ZipRecruiter. They have a new feature that quickly lets you see the most interested, qualified candidates first. So you're going to save time. You're going to meet people fast. But more importantly, you're going to now be able to hear from that person why they're the right person for the job. So it's getting you to the qualified candidates faster. And you could try it for free right now at ziprecruiter.com/audio. They have powerful matching technology. They find quality candidates quickly. And you want to hear it in their own words. Carl, you've hired a lot of people in your day. You've had to let people go in your day. But when you're looking to fill a job, how important is it to hear somebody tell you why they're the right fit for your job? It makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it?
It really does. And, you know, the beautiful part about ZipRecruiter as being almost like a screener, they can say, 'You're going to want to meet this person. You're going to want to hear from this person. We think that this is a good fit for you.' And then you get a candidate that is as good as advertised. You feel good about those type of interviews and those type of candidates.
